Samsung boosts AI and 5G investments to ‘lay the ground’ for innovation

samsung ai 5g investments boost artificial intelligence innovation

Samsung has said it will increase its efforts in AI and 5G to drive innovation across the South Korean tech giant’s business.

As the world’s largest smartphone and memory chip manufacturer – along with being a key player in many consumer devices including TVs, washing machines, fridges, and more – Samsung has established itself as a tech leader.

The convergence of powerful emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, and the cloud, have the potential to radically...

5 November 2019 | Samsung

Huawei announces its own AI assistant as it prepares for Google-less life

huawei assistant mate 30 pro google services ai artificial intelligence

Huawei has announced its own AI-powered assistant during a launch event in Munich as it prepares for life without Google’s services.

Due to US trade restrictions, Huawei is losing access to Google’s services. The new Mate 30 smartphones announced in Munich today will launch with the open-source Android, but it will not feature the Play Store, Gmail, YouTube, Google Pay, or the many other services which Western consumers are used to.

Among the features that will be...

19 September 2019 | Huawei

Google Assistant wins IQ test, but Alexa and Siri are catching up

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Google Assistant continues to lead the virtual assistant pack, but its rivals are close behind according to a new IQ study by Loup Ventures.

Loup Ventures asked each of the three main virtual assistants – Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri – a total of 800 questions. The assistants understood almost every question, even if not all of the responses were correct/sufficient.

In terms of understanding the questions, these are the results:

Google Assistant – 100...

19 August 2019 | Amazon

Google’s Duplex booking AI often relies on humans for backup

Google Duplex often calls on humans for backup when making reservations on behalf of users, and that should be welcomed.

Duplex caused a stir when it debuted at Google’s I/O developer conference last year. The AI was shown calling a hair salon to make a booking and did so complete with human-like “ums” and “ahs”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qCanuYrR0g

The use of such human mannerisms goes to show Google’s intention was for the human to be unaware...

23 May 2019 | Bots

Google condenses AI to just 0.5GB for speedy on-device Assistant

During this year's I/O Keynote, Google announced it's managed to condense 100GB of AI to just 0.5GB for a drastically sped-up Assistant.

Google's Assistant has always been among the most impressive, but it's not exactly been known for its speed. Often it felt quicker to just do the task manually rather than wait for Assistant to respond.

The main reason for Assistant’s sluggishness, it transpires, is that it required around 100GB of storage in addition to an internet...

7 May 2019 | Google

Qualcomm boosts Snapdragon AI performance with new chips for high and mid-tier devices

Qualcomm has announced new Snapdragon chips for high and mid-tier devices which benefit from a big jump in AI performance.

There are two new chips in the 7-series – the Snapdragon 730 and 730G – along with one in the 6-series, the Snapdragon 665.

Kedar Kondap, VP of Product Management at Qualcomm, says:

“With the introduction of the Snapdragon 730, 730G and 665 Mobile Platforms, we are bringing features such as sophisticated AI, exceptional gaming and...

9 April 2019 | Hardware

Huawei P30 Pro: AI turns anyone into a skilled photographer

We’ve gone hands-on with Huawei’s P30 Pro to review its AI capabilities and determine whether it’s a gimmick or a useful implementation.

The company’s flagship P-series of smartphones focuses on camera innovations. With this latest device, we’re seeing that trend continue. There are clear enhancements to existing features in addition to a few new things for us to play with.

In the Mate 20, Huawei’s previous flagship, the company expanded the number of scenes...

29 March 2019 | Hardware

Apple bolsters its AI talent with Laserlike acquisition

Apple has announced the acquisition of AI company Laserlike to add to its growing roster of in-house talent.

Laserlike is known for its AI-powered app which makes it easier for users to follow news topics. Most notably, it was founded by former Google engineers.

Few people think of Apple as an AI leader. The firm’s closest rival, Google, has invested heavily in AI for many years (as much for its cloud and search businesses as mobile).

Apple is, therefore,...

14 March 2019 | Apple

AnTuTu’s latest benchmark tests AI chip performance

We can now better scrutinise manufacturers’ claims about AI chip performance improvements thanks to AnTuTu’s latest benchmark.

If you’ve ever read a comprehensive smartphone review, you’ve likely heard of AnTuTu. The company’s smartphone benchmarking tool is often used for testing and comparing the CPU and 3D performance of devices.

With dedicated AI chips now appearing in devices from the mid-range to flagships, AnTuTu has decided it’s time for a benchmark...

30 January 2019 | Benchmark

To no surprise, Samsung’s next chip has an NPU for AI

Samsung will catch up to some rival smartphone manufacturers with a dedicated NPU in the company’s Exynos 9820 chip when it launches the S10. The company says its NPU (Neural Processing Unit) will deliver up to seven times faster AI performance than Samsung’s older Exynos 9810 chip in the S9. Huawei became the first to debut a dedicated NPU in a flagship smartphone with their Kirin 970 chip in the Mate 10. In our Mate 10 coverage, we noted Huawei claimed using an NPU could increase...

14 November 2018 | Hardware